Simply Chocolate Chip

Appreciation for the simple chocolate chip cookie.

Or at least the dough.

I made Nestle Toll House chocolate chip cookies - but with milk chocolate morsels instead of semisweet.  Still like semisweet better, but it's nice to know that the milk chocolate morsels work too!

But seriously, these are the best chocolate chip cookies ever.  So delish.

And that's it for my post today.  Wow, I'm slacking off, aren't I? XD I promise I'll get more detailed later.  Because, my darlings, it's almost Halloween!

I bet you can't guess what my costume is!
-JJ

Extra-Chocolatey Chocolate Euphoria Cookie Bars

Yes.

A thousand times yes.

Once I saw this in Joanne Fluke's Devil's Food Cake Murder, I was in love.

Completely in love with this recipe.  Even the name screams CHOCOHOLIC!

Okay, in the original recipe, the frosting is just a suggestion at the end of the actual recipe.  But HEAR ME OUT before you decide that it's too much chocolate!

One, the fudge frosting makes these look more like brownies and less like little cookie bars of death by chocolate chips.

Two, chocolate chips exposed to hot air (but not long enough to melt) taste sort of sketch.

Three, the frosting holds the whole cookie bar together and makes it look thicker.

Four, if you're only making a half-pan of this (8x8), then you'll have half a can of sweetened condensed milk leftover.  And if you're like me, the temptation of plain sweetened condensed milk sitting in your refrigerator cannot be resisted, no matter how much you try.  But if you make the frosting too, then you won't have any sweetened condensed milk leftover.  This is a good thing.

Five, it's more chocolate.  And that is never wrong.

So now you have my reasons.

I have made this twice so far.  And both times it received standing ovations.  Well, not really, but I got a lot of compliments, okay?

The first time I made the whole batch, with frosting.  The second time I made a half-batch, again with frosting.  I think the frosting adds a lot, though.  It makes it seem like the whole bar is going to be smooth and then you hit the cereal and the Oreo crust and it's like CRUNCH.

What's that?  Oreo crust?  Cereal?  What's in these things?  Let me break it down for you.  In order.

Oreo crust.  Semisweet chocolate chips.  Mini marshmallows.  Sweetened condensed milk.  White chocolate chips.  Chocolate cereal.  Milk chocolate chips.  Optional but highly recommended fudge frosting.

Ohhhhh yes.

About the cereal.  (Yes, I know, shut up already we want the recipe, but you might just want to pay attention to this.)

The original recipe calls for Cocoa Puffs or Cocoa Krispies.  Now, I have grown up on Cheerios and Oatmeal Squares, and I have never had these - and for good reason.  There is NOTHING healthy in them.  Like absolutely zilch.  And while these cookie bars are the opposite of healthy, I feel a lot better if I try to stick something half-healthy in there.

Chocolate Chex, baby.  It exists, and it's good.  And it's sort of healthy.  And it has plain Rice Chex in there too - which gives the cookie bars some more contrasting color.

Also, it crunches really truly delightfully when you take a bite.  It's an experience that you don't want to miss out on.  I'm serious.  That crunching noise it makes seriously has made my day.  Really.

Oh, right, also - WARNING: You will become addicted to these bars.  You will want to make lots and lots of them.  You will become a chocoholic like meeee. *evil chuckle*

Chocolate Euphoria Cookie Bars - with Chocolate Frosting

2/3 package Oreos (approximately)

1 stick butter

3 cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided

2 cups miniature marshmallows

2 14 oz. cans sweetened condensed milk

1 cup white chocolate chips

2 cups Chocolate Chex

1 cup milk chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease 9x13 inch pan.
2. Crush Oreos and measure out 1 1/2 cups.
3. Melt stick of butter in large microwave-safe bowl.  Add crushed Oreos and combine thoroughly.
4. Spread Oreo mixture into prepared pan.  Sprinkle extra crushed Oreo over gaps if necessary.
5. Evenly sprinkle 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips over Oreo crust.
6. Evenly sprinkle miniature marshmallows over the semisweet chocolate chips.
7. Pour 1 can sweetened condensed milk over marshmallows as evenly as possible.
8. Sprinkle white chocolate chips over that as evenly as possible.
9. Sprinkle Chex over white chips as evenly as possible.
10. Sprinkle milk chocolate chips over Chex as evenly as possible.
11. Press down on layers with the back of a metal spatula.
12. Bake 20-25 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.
13. While the bars cool, melt remaining 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly.
14. Once melted, add remaining can of sweetened condensed milk to the chips and stir vigorously for about 2 minutes.
15. Remove from heat and immediately spread on fully-cooled bars.
16. Once the frosting on top has cooled, cut into bars and refrigerate covered.  Makes 24 bars.

Breaking it down:

Melt the butter...

Combine with those crushed Oreos...

And spread out a beautiful Oreo crust for yourself.

Sprinkle with those semisweet chocolate chips...

Then the marshmallows...

And then pour on that sweetened condensed milk that I've ranted about so many many times.

Sprinkle on those white chocolate chips...

And the Chocolate Chex (because if you're using another cereal you SHOULDN'T BE)...

And at last, the milk chocolate chips.

Press it down and bake it for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.  So delightful.

Whip up your frosting while all this loveliness cools...

And frost those puppies!  Delish!

And of course, while you enjoy probably 5 million milligrams of caffeine and pure chocoholic high heaven, eat it with a fork. xD

You will be in love.  I guarantee it.
-JJ

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie Oreo Fudge Brownie Bars

Mmkay.

An explanation is necessary for most people except those part of the fandom.  This is a picture of Sherlock, the British TV series about Sherlock Holmes set in the modern era.  And it is freaking amazing.

It's intelligent, and intense, and British, and it's got Benedict Cumberbatch (best name EVAR) and Martin Freeman in it.  And they're amazing.  (Fyi, they're both going to be in the Hobbit.  Martin's Bilbo and Ben is Smaug, lol.)

Why am I going on about Sherlock?  Other than the fact that it is pretty much my favorite TV show?

There is a connection.  I promise.  I'm just taking my time getting to it, that's all.

So, since I and my lovely friends love Sherlock so much, we all got together and had ourselves a little Sherlock marathon.  All six 90-minute episodes.  It was a fun time.

And for the marathon, I made these brownie-cookie-bar-things.  There is no word for it, I swear.  Just look at the title - such a mouthful!  (And they are mouthfuls.)

Like many things, these brownie/cookie bars age well.  The second day they were great, the third day they were divine.

And because I am really forgetful, I left out the fudge sauce that's called for in the recipe, which, no doubt, would have made these taste even greater and would have probably made for much better-looking pictures.

As it is, I only have one picture of the final version.  And since I wanted to save that for the end, I thought, Hey, I can just put up a picture of Sherlock instead and ramble on about it for a little while.

Because these things will make up for any time wasted reading this.  I guarantee it.

Also, before you forget, you're going to need this.  Buy it now.

This recipe is from kevinandamanda.com.  Amanda has much nicer pictures than I do, so if you're confused, just go here instead.

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie Oreo Fudge Brownie Bars

REQUIRES SOFTENED BUTTER

2 sticks butter, softened

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

11.5 oz. bag milk chocolate chips

1 package Double Stuf Oreos

1 9x13 brownie mix (family size)

1/4 cup hot fudge topping (optional but recommended)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars.  Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.
3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt with a fork.
4. Add to flour mixture to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.  Stir in milk chocolate chips.
5. Spread in the bottom of a greased 9x13 inch pan. (It is very hard to spread into a wax-paper lined pan.)
6. Top with a layer of Oreos.
7. Prepare brownie mix as directed.  Add hot fudge to the brownie batter if you choose.  Spread batter over Oreos.
8. Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes.  Remove foil and bake additional 15-25 minutes.  Do not overbake - these should still be gooey in the middle.
9. Remove and cool completely on a wire rack.  Store covered at room temperature.

If you have a sharp knife, you can cut these bars into large, brownie-like pieces.  Since I was doing this with a plastic knife (so as to not scratch my nonstick pan - which I still grease just in case, btw!), I just cut around the Oreos - which are still hard.  Don't be surprised like I was.

Breaking it down, with very few pictures this time:

Cream butter with sugars...

Add eggs and vanilla...

Combine dry ingredients and add to the wet...

... and stir in the milk chocolate chips.  The real recipe calls for 2 cups, but since the most common size bag of milk chocolate chips comes in 11.5 ounces, I figured that would be okay.  (And it is.)

YUM.

Spread that in your pan - try it with wax paper, I dare you.  It's not fun.  I had to use chip clips to make it stay in place because this cookie dough is soooo thick.

Top with Oreos - don't worry, you'll have extra! ;)

Pour brownie batter (with fudge sauce!!!) over the top and bake as directed.  I overbaked and it didn't look very pretty or gooey and pretty much burned on the bottom.  Yuck.

Yeah, aren't they beautiful?  Not.  But they still taste really good - especially the middle ones with the brownie batter still fudgy. :3

Don't make my mistakes!  Enjoy!

-JJ

P.S. Are you watching Sherlock yet?  You should be!







...How about now?

Pretzel Cookies

When I first heard of peanut butter and pretzels, I thought the two together would be awful.  And those fake-peanut-butter-stuffed-pretzels are pretty awful.

But real peanut butter on a pretzel?  YUM - why didn't I think of this earlier?

So, now obsessed with a new combination, I thought - why not add chocolate?

Because that's just the sort of person I am. :)

So, I found this recipe for pretzel cookies from the Foodie and the Family, and it turned out to be some of the chewiest, most interesting, best-tasting cookies I've ever made.

Pretzel Cookies

REQUIRES SOFTENED BUTTER

REQUIRES CHILLING TIME

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg, beaten (you can do this with a fork)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups peanut butter and milk chocolate chips

1/2 cup pretzels, broken up

sea salt for sprinkling (optional)

1. Combine flour, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl.  Set aside.
2. In a separate large bowl, cream butter with brown sugar and sugar until fluffy.  Add egg and vanilla.
3. Add the flour mixture and mix until just combined.
4. Stir in chips and pretzels.
5. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour.
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
7. Scoop well-rounded tablespoons of dough onto prepared baking sheets.  Sprinkle with sea salt and bake 10-12 minutes.
8. Cool 5 minutes before removing to cool on a wire rack.  Makes from 24-30 cookies, depending on cookie size.

Breaking that sweet-n-salty stuff down:

Combine your dry ingredients.  Then cream butter with sugars.  I always cream my butter first, then add the sugars and combine.  It's easier on me considering I'm usually not using an electric mixer.  But that's a rant for another day.

Add egg and vanilla...

Then add flour mixture...

...and combine.

Stir in chips and pretzels.  A quick note about the chips: I said use 1 1/2 cups of milk chocolate and peanut butter chips, like that kind Nestle sells that you can buy at Target.  You could also follow the exact, unmodified recipe and use only a 1/2 cup peanut butter chips and 1 cup milk chocolate chips, but I had the bag of mixed chips and I really didn't feel like separating all those out.  I'm sure the cookies taste great either way.  Your choice! ;)

YUM.  Scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets...

...and bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes.  Let sit 5 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.  Aren't they just cute?

And delicious! :D

Have a salty-sweet day!
-JJ

Mini Kisses Butter Pecan Bars

I'mmmmm baaaaack!

And soon there will be several pictures of my vacation.  Unfortunately, I don't have a waterproof camera, so I couldn't take any undersea pix... :'(  But I have several nice ones and perhaps a few Look Up pictures, as well!

In the meantime, I didn't even last a whole day before I had to bake something.  Sure, I had one week of really good food and the generally crappy airport fare, but I just couldn't take it any longer.  I had to bake.  Preferably something chocolate.

So, considering I had a bunch of pecans and some Mini Hershey's Kisses lying around, I found the perfect recipe to use those up and satisfy my baking and chocolate cravings: Mini Kisses Butter Pecan Bars.

Mini Kisses Butter Pecan Bars
REQUIRES SOFTENED BUTTER

1 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup flour
10-oz. pkg. (1 3/4 cups) Mini Hershey's Kisses (or any other milk chocolate chip), divided
3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans, divided

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease 8-inch square baking pan or use nonstick pan.
2. Beat butter in a medium bowl until creamy.  Beat in brown sugar.  Add egg and vanilla.  Beat in flour.
3. Stir in 3/4 cup Kisses/chips and 1/4 cup pecans.  Spread evenly into pan.
4. Bake 25 to 30 minutes (25 recommended) or until lightly browned; remove from oven.
5. Immediately sprinkle remaining 1 cup chocolates over top.  Let stand 5 minutes or until chips/Kisses soften.  Spread with spatula or knife.
6. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup pecans over top; press in gently with your fingers.
7. Cool completely in pan on wire rack, then cut into bars, 6 by 2.  12 bars.

Breaking it down:
Beat butter, then beat in sugar...

Add egg and vanilla and mix well...

Beat in flour...

Add Kisses...

...and stir.  Stir in pecans and spread evenly in an 8x8 baking pan...

Bake for 25 minutes.

Sprinkle with 1 cup Kisses...

Let it sit for 5 minutes and then spread the molten Kisses with a spatula...

Sprinkle on pecans and press them into the chocolate with your fingers.

Let cool completely and cut into long, thin bars.

Enjoy!

-JJ

Rocky Road Brownies

Marshmallows seem to be defining at least half of my recent baking endeavors.  Oh, yeah, and chocolate does that too.  So, put them together and you get a recipe for Rocky Road Brownies!  (My own, thank you, with inspiration from Martha Stewart and a love of milk chocolate morsels. :D)

Rocky Road Brownies

1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1 bag milk chocolate chips

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup mini marshmallows

1/2 cup cashews

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Melt butter and 1 cup of milk chocolate chips in a saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth.  Remove from heat and pour into medium/large bowl.
3. Stir in sugars and salt, add eggs, and then mix in the flour.  Mix thoroughly, then pour into an 8x8 prepared or nonstick baking pan.
4. Bake for 30 minutes, then sprinkle on remaining chocolate chips, marshmallows, and cashews.
5. Bake for an additional 5 minutes, then remove from oven and let cool in the pan.  Cut into bars of desired size.  Makes anywhere from 9-16 servings.

Of course, I love huge brownies, so I cut the pan three by three...  Sooo filling.  But delicious anyway.  :) And let's break it down:

Cut your butter...

Combine with the chocolate chips...

And melt, stirring constantly until smooth.

Transfer to a large bowl and add sugars and salt...

Stir...

Add eggs...

Stir...

Add flour...

...and mix thoroughly.  Pour into an 8x8 baking pan...

Bake for 30 minutes...

Then sprinkle on chocolate chips...

Add marshmallows and cashews...

Bake for another 5 minutes...

Then cut into yummylicious bars!

Note: You may want to try sprinkling the cashews first, then the marshmallows, then the chocolate chips...  The brownies will probably look prettier and stick together better.  Mine had cashews falling off everywhere.  So remember, the recipe is NOT always perfect!

But still yummy!

-JJ